EP0586108B1 - Self aligning intracavity Raman laser - Google Patents

Self aligning intracavity Raman laser Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP0586108B1
EP0586108B1 EP93306272A EP93306272A EP0586108B1 EP 0586108 B1 EP0586108 B1 EP 0586108B1 EP 93306272 A EP93306272 A EP 93306272A EP 93306272 A EP93306272 A EP 93306272A EP 0586108 B1 EP0586108 B1 EP 0586108B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
laser
raman
resonator
self
disposed
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP93306272A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0586108A1 (en
Inventor
Robert D. Stultz
Michael E. Ehritz
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Raytheon Co
Original Assignee
Hughes Aircraft Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Hughes Aircraft Co filed Critical Hughes Aircraft Co
Publication of EP0586108A1 publication Critical patent/EP0586108A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0586108B1 publication Critical patent/EP0586108B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/30—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range using scattering effects, e.g. stimulated Brillouin or Raman effects
    • H01S3/305—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range using scattering effects, e.g. stimulated Brillouin or Raman effects in a gas
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/10—Controlling the intensity, frequency, phase, polarisation or direction of the emitted radiation, e.g. switching, gating, modulating or demodulating
    • H01S3/106—Controlling the intensity, frequency, phase, polarisation or direction of the emitted radiation, e.g. switching, gating, modulating or demodulating by controlling devices placed within the cavity
    • H01S3/108—Controlling the intensity, frequency, phase, polarisation or direction of the emitted radiation, e.g. switching, gating, modulating or demodulating by controlling devices placed within the cavity using non-linear optical devices, e.g. exhibiting Brillouin or Raman scattering
    • H01S3/1086—Controlling the intensity, frequency, phase, polarisation or direction of the emitted radiation, e.g. switching, gating, modulating or demodulating by controlling devices placed within the cavity using non-linear optical devices, e.g. exhibiting Brillouin or Raman scattering using scattering effects, e.g. Raman or Brillouin effect

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to lasers, and more particularly, to a self aligning intracavity Raman laser.
  • U.S. Patent 4,933,943 assigned to the assignee of the present invention discloses a three mirror intracavity laser that provides acceptable beam quality and output energy, but has inherent problems in aligning three mirrors that are included therein.
  • the intracavity resonator design of U.S. Patent 4,933,943 is a resonator comprising of three flat mirrors and these mirrors are very difficult to align and keep aligned, in practice. In particular, this alignment problem is a source of concern regarding the producibility and reliability of production lasers employing the intracavity resonator design.
  • alignment problems manifested in a variety of ways, including the following. Misalignment of the three mirrors beyond 100 »rad may occur in a harsh military environment, which causes degradation and beam steering of the laser output beam. Rod wedging due to thermal effects causes misalignment, thus limiting the pulse repetition rate of the laser. Alignment of the laser requires special tooling, includes an interferometer or autocollimator, and a skilled technician, which increases manufacturing costs. Because of the alignment sensitivity, optical alignment wedges and a heavy, rigid optical bench are used in the laser that further increase the production cost of the laser.
  • the present invention provides for a self aligning intracavity Raman laser comprising a pump resonator and a Raman resonator.
  • the pump resonator comprises a laser rod and a pumping means such as a flashlamp used as a pump source disposed adjacent the laser rod for pumping energy into the laser rod.
  • a first retroreflector is disposed at one end of the pump resonator, and an output mirror is disposed at an opposite end of the pump resonator.
  • a Q-switch, a dichroic mirror, and a prism are disposed between the laser rod and the output mirror.
  • the pump resonator is adapted to radiate pump energy at a first wavelength (1.06 »m) between the first retroreflector and the output mirror.
  • the Raman resonator comprises a Raman gas cell having first and second lenses disposed on opposite ends thereof for focusing laser energy into the Raman cell, a second retroreflector that forms one end of the Raman resonator, and wherein the output mirror forms an opposite end of the Raman resonator.
  • the dichroic mirror and the prism are disposed between the second retroreflector and the first lens.
  • the Raman resonator is adapted to radiate Raman laser energy at a second predetermined wavelength (1.54 »m) between the second retroreflector and the output mirror.
  • the first and second retroreflectors each comprise a corner cube.
  • the dichroic mirror is substantially oriented at 45° with respect to the optical axis of the laser defined by a line normal to the output mirror and centered on respective faces of the laser rod.
  • the first and second lenses are plano-convex lenses.
  • the Q-switch may be comprised of a dye-impregnated acetate sheet sandwiched between glass plates, and wherein the dye-impregnated acetate sheet has an optical density of about 0.42.
  • the dichroic mirror may be coated so that it is highly reflective to 1.06 »m wavelength laser energy and highly transmissive at 1.54 »m wavelength laser energy.
  • An alternative self aligning intracavity Raman laser in accordance with the invention is defined in claim 12.
  • the present invention is extremely insensitive to misalignment and has a very good eyesafe output energy and beam divergence similar to the intracavity Raman laser resonator described in U.S. Patent 4,933,943.
  • the present invention in a production design, may be mechanically toleranced to that no optical alignment is necessary. Due to its self-aligning nature, the present invention uses a fewer number of components and operates at a higher pulse repetition frequency (PRF) than the intracavity design of U.S. Patent 4,933,943.
  • PRF pulse repetition frequency
  • the self-aligning nature of the present invention eliminates the strict alignment requirements of the three-mirror intracavity laser. This has many advantages, including the following. Manufacturing labor costs are significantly reduced since the present laser can be assembled without optical alignment. The laser performance is extremely insensitive to mirror misalignment after assembly.
  • the optical bench used in the present laser may be made of less rigid, light-weight materials and provides good laser performance when operating in harsh environmental conditions. Misalignment due to rod wedging is eliminated. Since pump and Raman beams are always aligned to the output mirror, only output mirror tilting affects laser boresight.
  • the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) may be increased over the laser disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,933,943.
  • Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of a self-aligning intracavity Raman laser 10 in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
  • This self-aligning intracavity Raman laser 10 has been built and tested in breadboard form and test data is presented below with reference to Fig. 2.
  • the self-aligning intracavity Raman laser 10 comprises a pump resonator 11 and a Raman resonator 12.
  • the pump resonator 11 is shown surrounded by a rectangular box having a closely spaced dashed line, while the Raman resonator 12 is shown as having an L-shaped arrangement and is surrounded by dashed line having a longer dash pattern.
  • the pump resonator 11 is comprised of a laser rod 13 that is pumped by means of a flashlamp 14, for example.
  • a corner cube 16 forms one end of the pump resonator 11.
  • the pump resonator 11 is adapted to radiate pump energy along a first optical path 26 between its respective ends formed by the corner cube 16 and the output mirror 24.
  • the first optical path 26 is illustrated as U-shaped and the U-shape is formed by using a dichroic mirror 17 oriented at 45° with respect to the first optical path 26 and a prism 18 disposed along the first optical path 26 between the Q-switch 15 and the output mirror 24.
  • the pump laser 11 is adapted to radiate 1.06 »m wavelength laser energy.
  • the Raman resonator 12 is comprised of a Raman gas cell 21 having first and second lenses 22, 23 disposed on opposite ends thereof.
  • the output mirror 24 forms one end of the Raman resonator 12 and a second corner cube 25 forms an opposite end thereof.
  • the dichroic mirror 17 and the prism 18 are disposed between the second corner cube 25 and the first lens 22 and also form part of the Raman resonator 12.
  • the Raman resonator 12 is adapted to radiate Raman laser energy along a second optical path 28 between its respective ends formed by the second corner cube 25 and the output mirror 24.
  • the Raman laser 11 is adapted to radiate 1.54 »m wavelength laser energy.
  • the laser rod 13 may be Nd:YAG, 5 mm in diameter and 60 mm long for example.
  • the dichroic mirror 17 is coated so that it is highly transmissive at 1.54 »m (Raman) and highly reflective at 1.06 »m (pump).
  • the first and second lenses 22, 23, used to focus and recollimate the light in the Raman cell 21, are formed as plano-convex lenses and may have 63 mm and 38 mm focal lengths, respectively.
  • the output mirror 24 is coated so that it is 100% reflective at 1.06 »m (pump wavelength) and 28% reflective at 1.54 »m (Raman wavelength).
  • the corner cubes 16, 25 are retroreflecting, so both resonators 11, 12 are self-aligning in angle.
  • the apex of each corner cubes 16, 25 were centered (translation only) on the optical axis of the self-aligning intracavity Raman laser 10, defined as a line normal to the output mirror 24 and centered on the respective faces of the laser rod 13.
  • this "centering" of the corner cubes 16, 25 would be accomplished by mechanical tolerancing of the components.
  • a breadboard version of the self-aligning intracavity Raman laser 10 was built and tested.
  • the input energy of the flashlamp 14 at threshold was 6 joules.
  • the 1.54 »m output energy beam 29 (identified in Fig. 1 as (Raman out") of the breadboard self-aligning intracavity Raman laser 10 was 10 millijoules ⁇ 0.5 millijoules.
  • the 1.54 »m beam divergence data is shown in Fig. 2.
  • Eighty percent of the output energy of the beam 29 is contained within about 7.2 milliradians.
  • the diameter of the output beam 29 was about 3.0 mm, (5 mm x (38/63)).
  • a figure of merit for the quality of the output beam 29 is beam divergence times beam diameter.
  • the three mirror laser disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,933,943 has an 11 millijoule output and a beam quality of about 20 mm-mrad. The differences between the two designs with respect to output energy and beam quality are considered to be within acceptable limits.
  • the pulsewidth of the 1.54 »m output beam 29 for the breadboard of the self-aligning intracavity Raman laser 10 was a steady 5 nanoseconds.
  • the pulsewidth of the three mirror design of U.S. Patent No. 4,933,943 shows a variation from 6 to 12 nanoseconds. This variation is believed to be a result of the difficulties involved in aligning the three mirrors. For many applications, this pulsewidth variation does not affect system performance; however, a steadier pulsewidth is more desirable, and is achieved in the present self-aligning intracavity Raman laser 10.
  • Fig. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of a self-aligning intracavity Raman laser 10a in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
  • the self-aligning intracavity Raman laser 10a is comprised of the majority of the components of the laser 10 of Fig. 1, but uses a folding prism 19 in plase of the prism 18 and dichroic mirror 17.
  • the second embodiment is this arranged in a U-shape.
  • the second embodiment employes a common retrofrflector (corner cube) 16 for reflecting 1.06 »m and 1.54 »m wavelength energy from both of the resonators 12, 13.
  • the dichroic mirror 17 and the second retofrflector 25 in the first embodiment is thus eliminated.
  • the construction of this second laser 10a is substantially the same as described above for the first laser 10.
  • the second laser 10a was also built and tested.
  • the second laser 10a is operable, but the 1.54 »m output was about one-half the output of the first laser 10.
  • Significant losses were measured through the Nd:YAG laser rod 13 around the 1.54 »m wavelength. It has not been determined whether the losses are due to the bulk rod 13 or the anti-reflective coatings (anti-reflective at 1.06 »m only). These losses may be the cause of the reduced output. If these losses are eliminated, along with any 1.54 »m losses in the Q-switch 15a, and the 1.54 »m output is increased, then the second laser 10a would be more desirable that the first laser 10, for substantially all applications in which it is used.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Nonlinear Science (AREA)
  • Lasers (AREA)
  • Semiconductor Lasers (AREA)
EP93306272A 1992-08-10 1993-08-09 Self aligning intracavity Raman laser Expired - Lifetime EP0586108B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US926736 1992-08-10
US07/926,736 US5251221A (en) 1992-08-10 1992-08-10 Self aligning intracavity Raman laser

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0586108A1 EP0586108A1 (en) 1994-03-09
EP0586108B1 true EP0586108B1 (en) 1995-12-06

Family

ID=25453628

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP93306272A Expired - Lifetime EP0586108B1 (en) 1992-08-10 1993-08-09 Self aligning intracavity Raman laser

Country Status (10)

Country Link
US (1) US5251221A (no)
EP (1) EP0586108B1 (no)
JP (1) JP2548887B2 (no)
KR (1) KR970005169B1 (no)
CA (1) CA2103630C (no)
DE (1) DE69300953T2 (no)
ES (1) ES2080592T3 (no)
IL (1) IL106615A (no)
NO (1) NO309218B1 (no)
TW (1) TW233383B (no)

Families Citing this family (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR970005166B1 (ko) * 1993-04-24 1997-04-12 국방과학연구소 유도 브릴루인 산란을 이용한 라만 레이저 발진 방법 및 그 장치
JP2759745B2 (ja) * 1993-09-27 1998-05-28 理化学研究所 レーザー波長変換方法およびその装置
US5469454A (en) * 1994-05-02 1995-11-21 University Of Central Florida Mode locked laser diode in a high power solid state regenerative amplifier and mount mechanism
DE4423308A1 (de) * 1994-07-02 1996-01-04 Zeiss Carl Fa Intracavity-Raman-Laser
US5583877A (en) * 1995-05-09 1996-12-10 Ophir Corporation Method and apparatus for generating high power laser pulses in the two to six micron wavelength range
US6009219A (en) * 1996-04-08 1999-12-28 Axiom Analytical Incorporated Optical beam switching device
US5673281A (en) * 1996-04-20 1997-09-30 Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University Solid state system for frequency conversion using raman-active media and non-linear media
US6556339B2 (en) 2001-03-30 2003-04-29 Coherent Technologies, Inc. Noncollinearly pumped solid state Raman laser
US6531680B2 (en) 2001-04-06 2003-03-11 W. A. Whitney Co. Cube corner laser beam retroreflector apparatus for a laser equipped machine tool
CN100365887C (zh) * 2005-09-23 2008-01-30 南京大学 全固态分体式拉曼激光器
WO2007036937A2 (en) * 2005-09-27 2007-04-05 Ortal Alpert Directional light transmitter and receiver
CA2750244C (en) * 2008-01-03 2017-03-07 Wi-Charge Ltd. Wireless laser power transmitter
KR101448083B1 (ko) * 2013-08-01 2014-10-07 주식회사 포스코 용선 제조 설비 및 이를 이용한 용선 제조 방법
CN104934849B (zh) * 2014-03-19 2017-12-26 中国科学院大连化学物理研究所 一种带种子光的共焦非稳腔拉曼激光器
DE102016113049A1 (de) * 2016-07-15 2018-01-18 Frank Killich Optische Anordnung zur Kompensation von Fehlausrichtungen eines Reflektors gegenüber einer Lichtquelle

Family Cites Families (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4050035A (en) * 1976-02-13 1977-09-20 Trw Inc. Self-aligned polarized laser
GB2049267B (en) * 1979-04-17 1983-03-16 Ferranti Ltd Laser apparatus
US4812639A (en) * 1985-12-19 1989-03-14 Hughes Aircraft Company Self-aligning phase conjugate laser
US4682336A (en) * 1986-05-29 1987-07-21 Hughes Aircraft Company Q-switched laser resonator of integral construction
WO1989003131A1 (en) * 1987-10-02 1989-04-06 Hughes Aircraft Company Intracavity raman cell resonator
US4933943A (en) * 1987-10-02 1990-06-12 Hughes Aircraft Company Intracavity Raman cell resonator
IL90034A (en) * 1989-04-19 1992-07-15 Electro Optics Ind Ltd Raman shifting device
US5038359A (en) * 1989-10-10 1991-08-06 Hughes Aircraft Company Self-pumped, optical phase conjugation method and apparatus using pseudo-conjugator to produce retroreflected seed beam

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
TW233383B (no) 1994-11-01
DE69300953T2 (de) 1996-05-23
DE69300953D1 (de) 1996-01-18
CA2103630C (en) 1997-04-29
IL106615A0 (en) 1994-08-26
CA2103630A1 (en) 1994-02-11
ES2080592T3 (es) 1996-02-01
US5251221A (en) 1993-10-05
JP2548887B2 (ja) 1996-10-30
NO932829L (no) 1994-02-11
IL106615A (en) 1996-09-12
JPH06196827A (ja) 1994-07-15
NO932829D0 (no) 1993-08-09
NO309218B1 (no) 2000-12-27
EP0586108A1 (en) 1994-03-09
KR940004897A (ko) 1994-03-16
KR970005169B1 (ko) 1997-04-12

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP0586108B1 (en) Self aligning intracavity Raman laser
EP1706922B1 (en) Laser resonator cavity configuration
US4972429A (en) Achromatic prism beam expander for high magnification and tunable laser using same
US7376160B2 (en) Slab laser and method with improved and directionally homogenized beam quality
US8385382B2 (en) Compact multi-wavelength and multi-beam laser
Nettleton et al. Monoblock laser for a low-cost, eyesafe, microlaser range finder
US7039087B2 (en) End pumped slab laser cavity
EP0907995B1 (en) Laser and eyesafe laser transmitter
US4642809A (en) Slab active lasing medium
US7068700B2 (en) Optical bench for diode-pumped solid state lasers in field applications
US4802176A (en) Double moving grating laser
EP2803118B1 (en) Laser resonator architecture
EP2095183B1 (en) Optical parametric oscillator
US4498184A (en) Jinc-trap resonator
US5513205A (en) End-pumping laser configuration utilizing a retroreflector as an input coupler
EP0692152B1 (en) Unstable resonator laser apparatus
US6853670B2 (en) Laser resonator
US7751462B2 (en) Mono-slab laser cavity
CN116826492A (zh) 超稳光学参考腔***
Roth et al. 1053-nm Nd: YLF laser passively mode-locked with a saturable Bragg reflector (SBR)
KR19990001729A (ko) 고 안정성 고체 레이저 공진기
JPH0682879B2 (ja) レーザ発振装置

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): BE CH DE ES FR GB IT LI NL SE

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 19940811

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 19950117

GRAA (expected) grant

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009210

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: B1

Designated state(s): BE CH DE ES FR GB IT LI NL SE

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: BE

Effective date: 19951206

REF Corresponds to:

Ref document number: 69300953

Country of ref document: DE

Date of ref document: 19960118

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: ES

Ref legal event code: FG2A

Ref document number: 2080592

Country of ref document: ES

Kind code of ref document: T3

ITF It: translation for a ep patent filed

Owner name: SOCIETA' ITALIANA BREVETTI S.P.A.

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: CH

Ref legal event code: NV

Representative=s name: ISLER & PEDRAZZINI AG PATENTANWAELTE

ET Fr: translation filed
PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: ES

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 19960810

PLBE No opposition filed within time limit

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009261

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: NO OPPOSITION FILED WITHIN TIME LIMIT

26N No opposition filed
REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: GB

Ref legal event code: 732E

NLS Nl: assignments of ep-patents

Owner name: RAYTHEON COMPANY

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: TP

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: CD

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: CA

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: GB

Ref legal event code: IF02

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: ES

Ref legal event code: FD2A

Effective date: 19970912

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: CH

Payment date: 20040713

Year of fee payment: 12

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: NL

Payment date: 20040714

Year of fee payment: 12

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: SE

Payment date: 20040719

Year of fee payment: 12

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: IT

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20050809

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: SE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20050810

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: LI

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20050831

Ref country code: CH

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20050831

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: NL

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20060301

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: CH

Ref legal event code: PL

EUG Se: european patent has lapsed
NLV4 Nl: lapsed or anulled due to non-payment of the annual fee

Effective date: 20060301

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: GB

Payment date: 20120808

Year of fee payment: 20

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DE

Payment date: 20120731

Year of fee payment: 20

Ref country code: FR

Payment date: 20120823

Year of fee payment: 20

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: DE

Ref legal event code: R071

Ref document number: 69300953

Country of ref document: DE

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: GB

Ref legal event code: PE20

Expiry date: 20130808

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF EXPIRATION OF PROTECTION

Effective date: 20130810

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: GB

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF EXPIRATION OF PROTECTION

Effective date: 20130808